Rounding Third Softball

RTS will be in Orlando tomorrow for a Top 25 matchup between No. 5 ranked Florida and No. 20 Central Florida. First pitch between the Gators and Golden Knights is set for 6 pm EST Wednesday at the UCF Softball Complex. Follow RTS on Twitter @Rounding3rdSB for real-time in game updates.

The Japan Women’s Softball League announced that Toshimasa Shimada has been appointed as the new chairman of the league. The JSL one of the top softball leagues that draws players from throughout the world opens their season in April 3 and will have their mid-season break during the Tokyo Olympic Games. The JSL is preparing to launch a reformatted league in 2022 which will replace the current format.

Occidental College recently removed the interim tag for head coach Kelliner Croushore making the position permanent. Croushore has been on the softball staff at OC for three seasons and served the pandemic shortened 2020 season in the interim capacity. Before coming to LA she worked on coaching staffs at Georgetown and Rhodes College.

RTS is saddened to report the passing of former longtime Indiana Wesleyan University Softball Coach Sue Bowman. The veteran coach led the softball program at IWU for 24 seasons compiling a career record of 585-407. Bowman spent 41 seasons in all coaching numerous sports at IWU including volleyball, field hockey, and tennis. She resigned as softball coach in 2011 but continued as a full-time faculty member in the Health and Human Performance Division.

33 year coaching veteran Jeff Hankins will be named to the coaching staff of new Olivet College Head Coach Jennifer Cassell RTS has learned. The journeyman Hankins has worked at the high school and collegiate levels during his career. Along with numerous assistant assignments, he served as head coach at both Jackson College and Owens Community College.

East Texas Baptist (10-0) remained a unanimous No. 1 in this weeks NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Tigers have also extended their unbeaten streak to 25 games dating back to the shortened 2020 season.

Rank	Team	2021 Record	Points	Previous
1	East Texas Baptist (8)	10-0	200	1
2	Virginia Wesleyan	13-1-1	192	3
3	Linfield	11-1	184	6
4	Texas Lutheran	9-4	176	2
5	Christopher Newport	13-5	168	4
6	Salisbury	8-4	160	5
7	DePauw	10-0	152	7
8	Kean	2-0	144	8
9	Berry	9-2	136	9
10	Transylvania	9-2	128	11
11	Belhaven	13-4	109	25
12	St. John Fisher	0-0	107	10
13	Birmingham-Southern	18-2	97	12
14	Wartburg	9-1	95	T20
15	Eastern Connecticut State	2-0	88	15
16	Milwaukee School of Engineering	0-0	72	14
17	St. Olaf	1-1	68	13
18	Carthage	0-0	65	16
19	Moravian	2-0	61	17
T20	Emory & Henry	10-2	38	NR
	St. Catherine	3-1	38	19
T22	Geneseo	0-0	36	18
	Trine	0-0	36	T20
24	Randolph-Macon	0-1-1	26	22
25	Carroll (Wis.)	2-0	16	24

Others receiving votes:  Tufts 4, Mount Union 2, Illinois Wesleyan 1, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1.

Oklahoma (22-0) keeps rolling atop the Softball World and it’s now unanimous. The Sooners stayed firmly at No. 1 in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. OU received all 32 first-place votes.

Rank	School	Points	Record	Last Week
1	Oklahoma (32)	800	22-0	1
2	UCLA	761	15-1	3
3	Alabama	734	22-1	4
4	Oregon	691	16-1	5
5	Florida	650	17-2	6
6	Washington	610	20-2	8
7	Arizona	602	14-3	2
8	Oklahoma State	587	20-2	7
9	Kentucky	525	20-2	9
10	Texas	496	15-2	10
11	Arizona State	454	17-2	11
12	LSU	438	15-7	12
13	Florida State	437	13-5	15
14	Duke	431	19-1	13
15	Louisiana	341	13-4	14
16	Missouri	287	19-4	17
17	Arkansas	281	20-2	19
18	Virginia Tech	261	10-3	16
19	Georgia	248	19-2	18
20	UCF	135	17-3	24
21	Tennessee	117	18-3	22
22	Auburn	109	16-4	21
23	Clemson	95	16-2	25
24	South Carolina	87	13-6	20
25	Michigan	76	9-3	23

New to Poll: None

Dropped Out: None

Receiving Votes: Baylor (62), Northwestern (37), Southern Illinois (13), Iowa State (12), Illinois (11), Liberty (3), South Alabama (3), Texas State (3), Fresno State (1), James Madison (1), Ole Miss (1).

Division II has a new No. 1 in this week’s NFCA DII Top 25 Coaches Poll. After holding tight to the No. 2 spot, undefeated North Georgia (12-0) finally moved into the top spot. The Nighthawks took 12 of 16 first-place votes while new No. 2 Texas A&M-Commerce landed the other four votes.

Rank	School	Points	2021 Record	Last Poll
1	North Georgia (12)	396	12-0	2
2	Texas A&M-Commerce (4)	388	14-4	3
3	Augustana	360	4-2	4
4	Lincoln Memorial	346	18-2	6
5	Rollins	343	4-0	7
6	UT Tyler	320	12-4	8
7	Valdosta State	290	12-3	5
8	Oklahoma Christian	279	15-3	10
9	Rogers State	270	9-3	12
10	Concordia Irvine	249	6-3	9
11	Saint Leo	239	6-2	11
12	Southern Arkansas	237	5-2	1
13	Indianapolis	210	7-1	14
14	Winona State	191	8-0	15
t15	Texas A&M-Kingsville	165	12-2	18
t15	Young Harris	165	15-4	17
17	Saint Anselm	157	0-0	16
18	West Texas A&M	136	15-5	19
19	Grand Valley State	103	6-2	20
20	West Chester	83	4-0	21
21	West Florida	63	15-7	23
22	Colorado Mesa	58	8-0	22
23	Central Oklahoma	57	12-4	25
24	Angelo State	27	12-7	24
25	UAH	26	12-6	13

Dropped Out: None.

Receiving Votes: Anderson (10), Western Washington (10), St. Cloud State (9), Shepherd (6), Northwest Nazarene (4), Auburn Montgomery (2), Minnesota State (1).

RTS has learned that the Division I Football Oversight Committee will recommend to the NCAA DI Management Council that the “Dead Period” that has lasted since March 2020 be lifted after May 31 in favor of a “Quiet Period”. A Quiet Period allows for institutes to host Prospective Student-Athletes on-campus and hold institutional camps. However, the move would still restrict coaches from going off-campus to recruit or work non-institutional camps. Although each sport can decide their own recruiting periods, the football and men and women’s basketball committees have steered the last eight extensions of the Dead Period and there is no indication that trend would change. Division I Softball Coaches have not been off their campuses recruiting since the fall of 2019 and a move into a Quiet Period could possibly wipeout another summer in the prime recruiting season for DI Coaches. RTS obtained a memo sent from the Intercollegiate Coach Association Coalition (ICAC) to the NCAA imploring them to lift all recruiting restrictions starting April 16, 2021 until “sports specific recruiting calendars are resumed.” The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) which steers legislation on recruiting for the sport of softball, is a member of the coalition. Along with softball; representative organizations of soccer, volleyball, baseball, tennis, rifle, golf, field hockey, ice hockey, and swimming were all represented and supported the memo/request to resume regular recruiting activities.

The NCAA has sent a second communication out to all-session ticket holders for the Women’s College World Series June 3-9. The email states, “At this time, no determination has been made regarding fan attendance for the 2021 WCWS. We are closely monitoring federal, state and local COVID-19 restrictions in Oklahoma and we will reach out again when venue capacity and fan attendance have been determined.” The email sets a bleak outlook on the possibility of fan attendance with the event less than three months away. It also brings in question why the NCAA has set a 25% capacity for the Men and Women’s Basketball Tournaments that start this month and are obviously held indoors, but will make no determination on the WCWS held outdoors in Oklahoma City in June. NCAA had sent a survey earlier this year to regular all-session ticket holders gauging whether they would be attending or not indicating the association was trying to get an initial feel on capacity prospects.